On the TV, a news report was playing about a gas explosion at a mansion in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture.
Masamichi Yaga listened to the news while staring down at the four students kneeling before him.
His fist hardened. Veins popped.
"One of you said you would put up the Curtain yourselves, then ditched the auxiliary manager and ran off, didn't you?"
"And in the end... you completely forgot about it! Whoever it was, confess now!"
Immediately, Souma, Suguru Geto, and Shoko Ieiri pointed their fingers in unison at Satoru Gojo.
Satoru made an awkward face and raised his hand, shouting, "Sensei! Can we not play detective right now?"
"So it was you!"
BONK!!!
One punch later, Satoru had a steaming lump on his head.
...
Inside the basketball gym.
Satoru and Geto were playing one-on-one.
Shoko was wearing Satoru's sunglasses, curious to see if there was anything special about them. Finding nothing, she reached over and snatched the sunglasses off Souma, who was sitting on the bench eating sweets.
"Ah, they really are just normal sunglasses! I thought they'd be like Cyclops from X-Men or something."
Souma took the glasses back from Shoko and put them on. "They're just pitch-black lenses to suppress my vision. The Six Eyes sees too much detail; without a filter, my brain would fry from the information overload."
Shoko returned Satoru's glasses and sat back down next to Souma.
"Brain fry? You should learn Reverse Cursed Technique from me! Even if it fries, I can fix it!"
Souma looked at her like she was an alien. "Why do you think anyone can learn from your 'shwoom-hyoi' teaching method?"
At that moment, Satoru spoke up from the court. "More confusing than Shoko's teaching... why do we have to put up a Curtain anyway?"
Geto caught the ball. "Because curses are born from the negative emotions of ordinary people. To keep the number of curses in check, we need to maintain public stability. Panic breeds curses."
Satoru looked disgusted. "Looking out for the weak is such a pain."
Geto retorted, "Satoru, the survival of the weak must be protected. That is the correct form of society. Sorcerers exist to protect non-sorcerers."
"Ha?"
Satoru snatched the ball from Geto's hands.
"Applying moral logic as a constraint on power? That sounds like the reasoning of the weak to me."
Satoru made a gagging motion.
Geto's eyes turned cold. "Power without constraint only causes destruction."
Seeing the temperature in the room drop, both of them turned to look at Souma.
"Souma (Big Bro), what do you think?"
Souma, midway through a bite of cake, paused. He shrugged.
"I don't have an opinion. I only have one rule for living in this world."
"What is it?"
The two asked curiously.
Souma grinned.
"..."
What?
Souma continued, "It's simple. Do whatever you want, as long as you don't cross the line."
"As for your views... 'Sorcerers should protect non-sorcerers' vs 'Sorcerers don't need to protect non-sorcerers'... honestly, both sound pretty idiotic to me."
"HA?" x2
Souma's words instantly turned their aggression toward him.
Souma put down his unfinished cake. "You two brats want to fight?"
Satoru and Geto exchanged a glance and grinned wickedly.
Sensing a war approaching, Shoko's legs turned into turbo engines as she whooshed out of the gym.
Cursed Spirit Manipulation: Demon Eye!
Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!
Satoru and Geto cast dangerous glares. Souma simply smiled faintly and opened his arms.
Explosion imminent!
Creak—
The gym door was suddenly pushed open.
The three, who were a split second away from killing each other, were instantly engaged in a peaceful, elderly stretching routine.
"One, two, three, four..."
Yaga looked at the bizarre scene, feeling something was wrong.
"What were you guys doing just now? Where's Shoko?"
"Don't know!"
"Maybe she went to the bathroom!"
Yaga rubbed his eyebrows. "Forget it. The higher-ups have assigned a new mission to the three of you."
"Ha?"
The three turned away with bored expressions.
"What's with those faces? Is doing missions that boring?"
"No~"
They denied it in unison.
Seeing their expressions, Yaga ignored them and said flatly, "To be honest, I didn't want you to take this mission."
"But unfortunately, this mission was directly designated by Master Tengen. I have no choice."
"There are two objectives. The Star Plasma Vessel—the compatible vessel for Master Tengen. You need to protect her safety, and at the appointed time... erase her."
Satoru froze. "Protect her and then kill her? Is he crazy?"
Souma knew exactly what was happening but played dumb. "I heard Yaga-sensei is up for promotion to Principal. Maybe he's so happy he's gone senile?"
Geto frowned. "How do we treat that? Send him to a hospital?"
Souma shook his head. "That treats the symptoms, not the root cause."
Satoru realized, "How about Big Bro and I use our family connections to cancel Yaga-sensei's promotion?"
Yaga: "..."
"Next time you plot against me, do it somewhere I can't hear you. Or at least whisper!"
Ignoring their comedy routine, Yaga continued, "This mission concerns Master Tengen's initialization."
"As you know, Master Tengen has the Immortality technique. But it is not eternal youth. When aging progresses beyond a certain point, the technique attempts to force the body to evolve into a higher form of existence."
"Isn't that a good thing? Evolution sounds cool. Is it Super Evolution or Armor Digivolution?"
"Satoru, stop watching Digimon!"
"Evolution sounds good, but Master Tengen's evolution path is unknown. If it goes wrong, he could become the most terrifying curse in history—an enemy to humanity."
Yaga's tone was grave. "So, Master Tengen must merge with a Star Plasma Vessel to reset his body's age. This resets the technique for another five hundred years."
Souma raised his hand. "And what happens to the Star Plasma Vessel after the merger?"
Yaga paused. "Well... it is said that they merge completely with Master Tengen. They become one, existing as a spiritual entity."
"Sensei, do you believe that?"
"..."
Put that way, the three clearly understood.
"Merger" was just a pretty word for "being eaten."
Existing as another form?
Against Tengen's thousand years of ego and memories, a teenage girl's dozen years of life would be like a pebble thrown into the ocean.
Aside from a tiny ripple, nothing of her would remain.
Geto's face was expressionless. "So it's murder, then?"
Satoru looked disgusted. "Merger? What a hypocritical way to put it."
Yaga sighed. "If you really don't want to participate, given your status, you might be able to reject the mission."
"No."
Souma stood up slowly and stretched. "Can we trust the higher-ups to send anyone else for something this important? Besides..."
Souma smiled.
"After all, this is the Star Plasma Vessel's final journey. Rather than spending it with a bunch of stuffy old men, wouldn't it be better to spend it with three handsome, charming young men?"
Hearing this, Satoru and Geto immediately puffed out their chests, putting on their best "cool guy" faces.
"That's true! That's true!"